Teen sentenced in driving death case

Thursday

Jun 20, 2013 at 11:57 AMJun 20, 2013 at 11:57 AM

By Matt Durr

mdurr@hillsdale.netHILLSDALE — The 17-year-old Hillsdale man who hit and killed a Hanover man with his vehicle last year was sentenced to one year in jail Wednesday morning in Hillsdale County District Court.Dylan John McConnell was before the court for sentencing on one count of a moving violation causing death, after pleading no contest to the charge last month.McConnell, an unlicensed driver, was behind the wheel of a vehicle that hit the vehicle of Mick Obenour, 45, in December. Obenour, a father of two, was killed in the accident.Prior to sentencing, McConnell's lawyer, Jim Hayne, offered a statement on his client's behalf and pleaded with the court to not hand down the maximum sentence of one year in jail."He stood like a man and entered a plea accepting that he was behind the wheel," Hayne said. "I don't know that any driver could have avoided this accident."Hayne contested that because one of the passengers in the vehicle may have grabbed the wheel, there was nothing McConnell could have done to avoid the accident."My client is dreadfully sorry for what happened in this matter," Hayne said before adding, "Don't believe that piling on my client with jail means justice is served."Hayne also mentioned that the man who was said to have grabbed the wheel has not been charged in this case.Obenour's ex-wife and mother of his two sons also spoke prior to sentencing. Dawn Obenour stood in front of McConnell and gave an impassioned speech about the damage caused by Mick's death."You took a great man away from so many. They (the two boys) have a life sentence of not having a dad. Realize what you did to those two little boys," Dawn said. "You need to step up and be the man you should be. You need to sit there and think about what you've been doing."McConnell looked directly at Dawn as she began her statement, but eventually turned his eyes down as she asked him to think about the damage the accident caused.Judge Donald Sanderson then handed down his sentence while explaining that McConnell's past and current legal troubles played a factor in his decision. Prior to the most recent cases, Sanderson said McConnell had a felony on his record as a juvenile, but what the felony was for was not disclosed."You were 17 and unlicensed and out driving when you shouldn't have been," Sanderson said. "I believe you deserve the full year suggested in the guidelines."As the sentence was being read, McConnell broke down crying while holding his head in his hand. Sanderson then proceeded on two other court matters involving McConnell. In the first matter, a probation sentence of two years was given for a malicious destruction of property case.The other matter stemmed from an arrest nine days ago, when he was picked up for stealing two cans of Red Bull from the Hillsdale Market House. McConnell pleaded guilty to that charge and Sanderson sentenced him to 30 days in jail, but that sentence will run concurrent with the one-year sentence.McConnell was then placed in handcuffs to be taken to the Hillsdale County Jail to begin his sentence.The accident occurred on the morning of Dec. 11, 2012, when McConnell and two friends were traveling northbound on M-99 in a Ford Explorer. McConnell lost control of the vehicle and hit Obenour, who was traveling southbound. What exactly caused McConnell to lose control of the vehicle has never been determined.The theory about someone else grabbing the wheel came from testimony during a pre-trial examination in which the two men who were in McConnell's vehicle at the time of the accident gave differing stories about the cause. While both men said that it appeared McConnell fell asleep at the wheel, they gave different stories after that.The man in the backseat of the Ford Explorer said he saw the other man — who was in the front seat — reach over and grab the wheel, jerking it to the left when it appeared that McConnell had fallen asleep. The man accused of grabbing the wheel said he never touched it, and that when he yelled at McConnell to wake up, McConnell awoke, grabbed the wheel and sent the car into Obenour's path.Blood tests showed that McConnell had Xanax and synthetic marijuana in his system at the time of the accident and witnesses testified they had seen McConnell using the synthetic marijuana the night before.McConnell was originally charged with one count of operating while intoxicated causing death, one count of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, one count of operating with license suspended, revoked, denied causing death, one count of operating with license suspended, revoked, denied causing serious injury and one count of a moving violation causing death, but those charges were dropped as part of a plea bargain.Last month, prosecutors explained that because of the conflicting stories between the people in the car, it might not have been possible to convince a jury of 12 of McConnell's guilt beyond reasonable doubt and so the plea bargain was agreed upon."It's a horrible situation. I'm very conflicted over it. Sometimes you have to take a step back, and that's why we sat down and talked about it and we decided this was a good result," said Assistant County Prosecutor Rod Hassinger.On top of the jail sentence, McConnell will also be responsible for various fines and costs associated with all three cases settled Wednesday. He was given credit for two days served in jail.With the matter finally complete, Sanderson issued a warning to McConnell going forward."If you come back in again, it's not going to go well for you," he said.